Israel bombs Hamas targets in Gaza after 7 rockets hit southern Israel

Members of Hamas' security forces survey the damage to a Hamas security site in Gaza City June 23, 2012. Israel launched air raids early on Saturday against three Hamas security targets in the Gaza Strip, wounding at least 17 people, Hamas medical officials said. (Reuters Pictures)

(JPost) The Israel Air Force struck three Palestinian terror bases in the Gaza Strip early Saturday morning after Palestinians continued firing rockets into Israel. Palestinian media reported that between 17 and 21 people were wounded in the strike- the third of its kind in recent hours, which altogether have also resulted in the death of at least one terrorist.

The IDF Spokesman's Unit stated that aircraft registered direct hits on the three targets - two of which are in northern Gaza and one of which is in the South.<

Just prior to the attack, Palestinians fired another rocket into Israel, bringing the total to seven in recent hours. The rocket landed in the Eshkol Regional Council area, failing to cause damage or injury.

The violence all but erases diplomatic progress made in the form of an informal ceasfire brokered by Egypt on June 20, which brought two days of relative quiet to southern Israel.

Late Friday, the IAF initiated two forays into the coastal territory in response to rocket fire. The first strike targeted a terror cell preparing to launch a rocket at Israel, killing one member of a pro al-Qaida fringe Salafist Islamist group and wounding two others at the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. The Palestinians had originally reported that the man was a member of the Popular Resistance Committees, a terrorist group that is often involved in rocket shooting into Israel.

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